Blue Desert (1990) – Bradley Battersby.

Comic book artist, and recent rape victim (Courtney Cox), up-sticks, moving to the Arizonian boonies, and very soon discovers sleepy tumbleweed towns have abusive skells too. Took a trip back to the early 90s with Bradley Battersby's suspenseful indie psychodrama Blue Desert, and it wasn't half bad at all, having far more of a noirish Red Rock West vibe than I recall. While brooding Craig Scheffer's twitchy performance won't garner plaudits for subtlety, I found his attractively hirsute, desert stoner persona strangely compelling. Blue Desert is arguably a mite lightweight, but it remains a robust thriller, the angelic Courtney Cox is cute as a button, providing for a vulnerable, greatly sympathetic protagonist. No midnight movie classic, but the performances are solid across the board, Battersby's angsty, paranoid thriller climaxes zestily in a satisfyingly rigorous manner.